Heat exchangers for vehicles are typically rigidly mounted to vehicle components in order to prevent excessive movement and vibration. For example, many heat exchangers are provided with mounting brackets for connection of the heat exchanger to a housing or to another vehicle component. Rigid mounting can, however, constrain thermal expansion of the heat exchanger relative to the structure to which it is mounted, and this can cause thermal stresses in the heat exchanger. Over time, these thermal stresses can lead to premature failure of the heat exchanger.
Thermal stresses can be of particular concern in heat exchangers constructed from elongate tubes or elongate plates, in which stresses caused by longitudinal expansion of the tubes or plates can be significant.
There remains a need for mounting arrangements which reduce or avoid the damaging effects of thermal stresses caused by thermal expansion of heat exchangers, while at the same time avoiding excessive vibration of the heat exchanger.